“Is It Possible To Know That I Am Saved?”
3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. 6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
1 John 2:3-6 (KJV)
The short answer to the opening question is “Yes” you can know that you are saved!
First of all let me say if you are a person who might be asking this question there is a more than good chance you are not saved. As you will see in this article there is Biblical evidence that assures us of our salvation.
20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.
1 John 3:20-21 (KJV)
These verses tell us that there are times when doubt may arise and our own heart will attempt to condemn us. That is, we may feel that we are not saved. John wants us to know that we are not to rely on what our feelings says! We are to look at the evidence and rest in the grace of God. Just because I may not feel saved, does not change the fact that evidence says that I am saved.
When there are facts and evidence in any situation they tend to be a little stubborn because you can’t explain them away. Anytime you have true real facts and undisputable evidence they always override speculation and the opinions of others. This may not set well with some but Biblical facts and evidence overrides even what you may have been taught to believe all your life.
I could probably sit down and make a list of hundreds of people who have told me they base their salvation on what their grandparents and parents told them about an experience they might have had when they were very young. Many tell me they attended a revival or youth outreach where there was a large crown and the evangelist during the invitation ask for a show of hands and he says something like this “I see your hand” Now repeat this prayer after me and he then proceeds to tell everyone who did that that they are now saved, gives them a little booklet on where to send the money and sends them on their way. Others were born into a religion that assumes because you born into a particular family who practices a certain religion and you were sprinkled with a little water as a baby, that you are automatically penciled in. Some denominations send people through conformation classes and if they answer all the questions right and pass the test they get to join the church and there in.
None of these things are based on Biblical facts and never show any real evidence of salvation.
In my own life I was baptized in a Southern Baptist Church in 1968 at the age of 14. Little did I realize that on that day two things happened me and a preacher got wet. I actually was saved 27 years later on June 18, 1995. You see at 14 I was ask by a Sunday school teacher if I wanted to be baptized and join the church, since my parents were members there I said sure why not. I was baptized that night without any explanation or council from the pastor about what I was about to do. You might ask how do you know you were not saved at 14, because there was never any evidence in my life that I was. See true salvation produces evidence that is just the facts.
When it comes to the scenarios I mentioned above that is like the GEICO commercials, “That is not how this works, that is not how any of this works.”
As sincere as many grandparents and parents are they can be sincerely wrong. They may have attended a baptism service where you were baptized like my parents and grandparents did. But they cannot know whether or not you are saved, they do not have the ability to look into your heart, only God can do that. Only He and He alone can know the intent of the heart. To trust your salvation to the confirmation of any man is to live dangerously.
But what about the revival I attended and the preacher said I was saved because I repeated a prayer he told me to say was he wrong? While that question is a bit tricky, you can answer it with a few simple observations.
Was there any Biblical evidence of salvation after you left the revival?
Did you leave with a desire to seek out more about God and His Word?
Did you follow up by attending a local church and making a public profession of your faith?
Did you turn from your sinful ways?
Was there a noticeable change in your life?
Were you eager to tell all your friends about your experience?
If none of these things took place then you were probably just another number to add to the evangelist list so he would be invited to the next town or church to preach. But you were not saved according to the Word of God.
But pastor I was born into a very religious family and I went through all the formalities. Being saved and becoming a Christian is not about a religion it is a relationship with The Lord Jesus Christ that only takes place when a person is born again. Religion cannot save; hell will be filled with good honest religious people one day. Being saved is not collectively taking in a group of people just because they were sprinkled as an infant or participated in some conformation class and joined a church. Salvation is an individual belief in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. And living a life that gives clear evidence of that based on the facts we find in The Word of God.
I know this may sound redundant, but I can’t say it enough, true salvation in Jesus Christ produces evidence of that fact in the believer.
Jesus said:
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Matt 7:16-20 (KJV)
Here are some statistics I found that are probably as accurate as any I have found.
In Southern Baptist Churches out of every 100 professions of faith only 30 are actually baptized. Out of the 30 only 10 will show up on a given Sunday morning to church, and only 4 will show up on Sunday night.
A well known evangelist in Oklahoma City held a revival in which 47 people came and repeated a prayer when asked how many came back to be baptized he said only 3.
He also pastured 2 churches in Oklahoma one had 600 members 300 he could not find the other had 900 members 750 he could not find.
In his day Charles Spurgeon commented on the damage done to the cause of Christ by the use of having someone simply pray a prayer at an altar. Lain Murray in his book "The Forgotten Spurgeon" quotes Spurgeon as saying, "I should like to go to the inquiry room. I dare say you would, but we are not willing to pander to popular superstition. We fear that in those rooms men are warmed into a fictitious confidence. Very few of the supposed converts of inquiry rooms turn out well. Go to your God at once, even where you are now. Cast yourself on Christ, at once, ere you stir an inch!"
I believe that the greatest field of evangelism today is not always found in the world even though it certainly should be. I believe we need not go any further than the churches we preach in. How can we expect people in the church to witness to others about Christ when they are not familiar with Him Themselves? Therein lies the reason many of our churches are decreasing and not increasing.
So I will let you answer the question “Is it possible to know that I am saved?
3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. 6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
1 John 2:3-6 (KJV)
The person who is saved will have a desire to walk in obedience to the revealed will of God. This is the same standard applied by Jesus Himself.
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
John 14:15-16 (KJV)
6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us.
1 John 4:6 (KJV)
The person who is saved will receive the Word of God and will conform his or her life to it.
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
1 John 5:3 (KJV)
The saved person will experience a joy in their heart when they receive a commandment from the Lord. God’s demands will not be grievous to them but they will be pleasure and delight to the soul.
Is there something within you that wants to do the will of God? You may not do it completely or perfectly, but is there a pull within you that makes you want to do what God wants? That is not naturally within man, it is supernaturally placed within man when he is saved!
9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. 10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. 11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.
1 John 2:8-11 (KJV)
The genuine believer will always be marked by true love for their brothers and sisters in Christ.
This is a love that is seen and not just spoken! It is a love that transcends all hurts and personal attacks. It is our unexplainable love for people, in spite of their attitudes and actions towards us, that gives us assurance of our salvation.
A person who displays no love for the redeemed is not a child of God.
20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
1 John 4:20-21 (KJV)
True believers love the rest of God's family! Without this supernatural love for the brethren a person is simply not saved, regardless of what they may say!
4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. 5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. 6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. 7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. 8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
1 John 3:4-10 (KJV)
These verses reveal the truth that genuine believers live a different life than the world around them. They have been changed by the power of God and are different.
A saved person will develop a new pattern of life that will increasingly become more and more like Jesus Christ.
6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
1 John 2:6 (KJV)
The saved individual will not be able to live a life of habitual, unconfessed, unrepentant sin!
Will the saved person be perfect, no?
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
1 John 1:8-10 (KJV)
But there will be a pull in the heart to make it right with God and to separate from that sin!
If two people are living together out of wedlock, and truly become a Christian they will not be able to remain in that situation.
If the friends they hang out with are unbelievers they will seek out new friends and become a witness to their past acquaintances.
The stool at the local bar will be replaced with a pew at the local church.
The literature one reads and the entertainment one participates in will change.
There will be visible changes in the life of one who believes and these changes will last more than a few weeks. Anyone can have a New Years resolution that last for a while but only a true believer can live it out for the rest of their life.
24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.
1 John 3:24 (KJV)
Not only will the genuine believer have the external marks of salvation, such as a desire to obey the Lord, a desire to do His will, a love for the brethren that manifests itself in action rather than mere words and a life that is marked by a resemblance to the Lord Jesus, but the believer will also have the inner evidence of the Spirit of God.
13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
1 John 4:13 (KJV)
At the instant of conversion, the Spirit of God takes up residence within the spirit of the believer. This is the true Baptism of the Holy Spirit. His Spirit within our hearts gives us assurance that we are saved.
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Romans 8:16 (KJV)
The presence of the Spirit of God in our lives is proof positive that we belong to the Lord!
This is a mysterious thing, but it is absolutely essential for the assurance of one's salvation. When the Spirit of God is present in your life, He will speak to your heart. He will tell you things. He will guide you. He will warn you. He will lead you. He will feed you. He will comfort you. He will teach you the truth. He will rise up within your heart and confirm the reality of your adoption into the family of God.
Like a mother who wraps her arms around that insecure child everyday and expresses her undying love, the Spirit of God does the same things for the redeemed child of the Lord.
To put it simply, when you get saved, there is a spiritual instinct placed within you. You immediately begin to desire those things that pertain to God, His Word, His work and His worship. This will not be a passing thing, but it will endure throughout life because of the presence of the Spirit in your heart.
1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1 John 5:1-2 (KJV)
The true believer is one who trusts Jesus Christ and Him alone for their soul's salvation. They believe all the Bible says about Him and they have embraced Jesus as their only hope by faith. That is the essence of salvation! It is more than just an intellectual knowledge of Jesus, it is a personal acceptance of those things for oneself as your only hope of Heaven.
What are you trusting to take you to Heaven? Don't trust a prayer you prayed. Don't trust a warn sensation you felt. Don't trust what someone told you. You must trust Jesus and Him alone. Nothing else will ever suffice to save the soul!
What are you trusting to save your soul? Is your faith in Jesus or the church? Is your faith in Jesus or your profession of faith or some prayer you prayed? Is your faith in Jesus or in the good things you think you have done? Faith that does not rest in Jesus Christ is not saving faith at all!
Here is one fact that you cannot over look. You can be 99% sure you are saved and die and go to hell. This is one question that you must be 100% sure about.
Are you one of the 30 who was baptized and never came back to church? Are you one of the 300 or 750 church members that nobody can find? Are you one of the thousands who raised their hands at a revival and repeated a prayer but your life never changed? Are you one who goes to church once in a while and goes away feeling like you are not being fed?
Do you stay away from God’s house because someone hurt your feelings or things did not go your way? Do you live your life in such a way that it would not embarrass you to have Jesus tag along with you, because by the way He does see everything you do and He does hear every thought you think?
And He knows whether the path you are on will one day lead you to heaven and the good thing about is you can know too!
